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Robots have feelings too!

by Allison Brill
03.03.2008

Anyone who has ever seen "The Matrix" or I, Robot knows that it is completely justified in saying that artificial intelligence in robots is a bit like Spiderman: with great power comes great responsibility. In Japan , however, engineering students are harnessing that power not for world domination but rather for expressing themselves...sort of.

At a university lab in the surrounding suburbs of Tokyo, students are working to perfect the robot Kansei or "sensibility." This robot is wired to simulate six separate emotions on its robotic face: anger, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise and disgust. Kansei is able to achieve this task through a database of word associations. For example, when the robot hears "war," it responds with what looks like fear and disgust. And when it hears "love," its pink (yes, pink) lips smile.

"To live among people, robots need to handle complex social tasks," said project leader Junichi Takeno of Meiji University. "Robots will need to work with emotions, to understand and eventually feel them.

While Japan and the rest of the world is nowhere near simulating the emotional complexity of humans (think sci-fi channel), this new trend is just another advancement in the robotics revolution thats been happening for many years. In fact, robots are so present in far eastern industry, they are often a staple in Japanese factories, with even some welcomed on their first day at work with Shinto religious ceremonies. In fact, according to a recent report by Macquerie, there are 32 robots for every 1,000 human workers in Japanese factories

"The cost of machinery is going down, while labor costs are rising," said Eimei Onaga, CEO of Innovation Matrix Inc., a company that distributes Japanese robotics technology in the U.S. "Soon, robots could even replace low-cost workers at small firms, greatly boosting productivity."

With that in mind, the rest of the world's blue-collar workers better watch out; a femme-bot may be taking your job.